Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Mercenary

Mercenary , adjective

[Old English mercenarie, French mercenaire, from Latin mercenarius, from merces wages, reward. See Mercy.]

1.
Acting for reward; serving for pay; paid; hired; hireling; venal; as, mercenary soldiers.
2.
Moved primarily by considerations of pay or profit; greedy of gain; sordid; selfish. — Shakespeare
For God forbid I should my papers blot With mercenary lines, with servile pen. — Daniel

Mercenary , noun

One who is hired; a hireling; especially, a soldier hired into foreign service. — Milman